This invention relates to a connector having a locking mechanism for locking a connected state with a mating connector.
For example, a connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. H9-120864 comprises a connector body and a strain relief connected to the connector body. The strain relief comprises a holding portion faced to the connector body, a first arm portion extending from the holding portion, a locking claw disposed near a free end of the first arm portion and adapted to lock a connected state with a mating connector, a second arm portion extending from the free end of the first arm portion in a direction opposite to the first arm portion, and an operating portion formed at a free end of the second arm portion and adapted to operate the locking claw. The strain relief is provided with a recessed portion for receiving an operating protrusion formed on the operating portion.
When the connector body is connected to the mating connector, the locking claw is engaged with the mating connector to lock the connected state. If the operating portion is forced and pushed in a predetermined direction during the connected state, the locking claw is disengaged from the mating connector. In this event, the first and the second arm portions are cooperated with each other to serve as an unlocking lever for unlocking the connected state. As a result, the mating connector and the connector body are disconnected from each other. When the operating portion is forced and pushed, the operating protrusion is butted against a bottom surface of the recessed portion. With this structure, the unlocking lever is prevented from being damaged when an excessive load is applied to the operating portion.
However, in case where the operating portion is applied with a load in a direction other than the predetermined direction, the first and the second arm portions may be deformed in an unexpected direction to make the unlocking lever be damaged.